Dr. Manoj Jain: Garlic's benefits antioxidant, antisocial

I am not a fan of garlic, except for sprinkling garlic powder on my cheese pizza. However, I may have to change my mind.

Nearly every ancient culture extols the health benefits of garlic. It is said that Olympians would eat cloves of garlic before participating in the games. I contemplated offering it to my daughter before her cross-country meet.

According to National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov) studies, those who eat more garlic have a lower risk of breast, colon, esophageal, pancreatic and prostate cancer. Other studies show that garlic may be protective against heart disease.

It can also help prevent the common cold.

On average, an adult has two to four colds per year, while a child has six to eight.

In a study conducted in England on 146 volunteers, one group was given 180 mg of allicin, a garlic extract, while the second group was given a placebo. For 12 weeks during the winter, there were 24 colds in the garlic group compared with 65 in the placebo group. The garlic group also had fewer days of illness, 111 days, compared to the placebo group, 366 days. Clearly, the garlic eaters stayed virus-free.

The World Health Organization's guideline on health promotion recommends that adults eat a daily dose of 2 to 5 grams of garlic, about one clove. That will be difficult for me.

The cloves have to chopped and crushed and left open for 15 minutes for the healthy and odorous compound to develop.

Before going on a high-garlic diet, check with your doctor. The garlic may interact with blood thinners.

But how does garlic work? Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham found that if you took garlic from the supermarket and extracted its juice and key element, allicin, and added it to red blood cells, the cells would give out a chemical called hydrogen sulfide. This is the stuff that smells like rotten eggs when you stand near oil refineries. Hydrogen sulfide is also the antioxidant that relaxes the blood vessels, and reduces the risk of cancers.

Though the antioxidant theory is a good explanation for the action of garlic, I suspect there may be another reason garlic-eating subjects may get colds less often. It's social distancing.

An effective strategy to reduce a cold is to keep a comfortable distance from others. And garlicky breath certainly makes you do that.

Dr. Manoj Jain is an infectious disease physician and member of the Healthy Memphis Common Table Council. To read about other healthy foods, go to his Web site mjain.net.